Olsen & Tyler On Being a Parent

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A 4 page essay that argues that 2 short stories, "I Stand Here Ironing" by Tillie Olsen and "Teenage Wasteland" by Anne Tyler, address the same theme, which focuses on the reactions of parents to having a troubled teen. In each story, the author not only describes the teen's problems, but also stresses how society and authority figures will offer definitive instruction on how to handle raising children, but then just as definitively blame the parents if these dictums fail to produce a perfect adolescent. Society wants to allocate blame, but, as these two stories demonstrate, sometimes there are forces that are outside of parental control. No additional sources cited.